Peshmerga-Iraqi army cooperation ‘very weak’: Kurdish commander 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The cooperation between the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga and the Iraqi army in the ongoing fight against remnants of ISIS is “very weak”, a Kurdish commander told Kurdistan 24 on Monday. 

The commander’s remarks come as Iraqi forces and civilians have been sporadically attacked by ISIS remnants believed to be operating in the remote areas of Iraq’s northern and eastern provinces. 

The Iraqi army's cooperation with the Peshmerga forces against ISIS is “very weak” and only limited to “intelligence sharing”, Colonel Bakhtiyar Mohammad, a commander in the 5th Sharazoor Brigade, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday. 

The stalemate in the Iraqi government formation process, six months after the Oct. 10 elections in 2021, is a significant reason behind the increasing threat of the group. ISIS’ territorial reign was put to an end in 2017 by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, with the support of an 80-plus international military coalition, but the group continues to be a threat in multiple areas. 

Following the 2017 attack of federal forces and Iranian-backed Iraqi militias on the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, the group’s members have been able to reorganize and relaunch a low-level insurgency. Experts have on numerous occasions pointed to the lack of cooperation between the formal forces as the main impediment to re-establishing security. 

The Kurdish leadership has called on Iraqi authorities numerous times for further cooperation against the extremists in the areas in question. Both sides have launched joint operations against the militants’ alleged positions. 

The Iraqi Army recently announced the start of the second phase of Operation Solid Will, which aims to hunt down militants and destroy their hideouts in Iraq’s western desert region. 

Additional reporting by Harem Jaff